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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

KANSAS
CITY, Mo. - More than nine-thousand people came out on Friday for the
opening of the new Helzberg Penguin Plaza exhibit at the Kansas City
Zoo. The zoo saw another seven-thousand people on Saturday. Now the zoo
is looking for ways to keep the momentum going.

Zoo Director
Randy Wisthoff knew the penguin exhibit looked good on paper, but never
imagined how amazing it would look once it was built.

"To be honest, this is exceeding my expectations," Wisthoff said.

Since taking over as zoo director 10 years ago, his job is more than just building exhibits.

"The first time we balanced the budget in 2004 was extremely rewarding because it hadn't been done in a while," Wisthoff said.
After
the books, he started at the front gate during the zoo expansion in
2005, and also included the shortcut to Africa. But, he's not done yet.

"To
me we have a long way to go to be a world class zoo. We are probably
there or pretty close, but in my eyes I never stop long enough to look
at it that way," Wisthoff added.

Wisthoff says he will enjoy
the success of the penguin exhibit and start planning for the future,
which will include upgrades to the gorilla and elephant exhibits, just
to name a few. Wisthoff says the list of improvements gets longer every
day.

The Kansas City Zoo is open 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.

Live Blackfooted Penguins in HD - Monterey Bay Aquarium

Aquarium of the Pacific Live Penguin Cam

Listen to the Gentoo Purr

The Torgersen Island Penguin Camera

The Penguin Camera is located on Torgersen Island (64°46’S, 64°04’W), off the coast of Anvers Island and less than a mile from Palmer Station. Torgersen Island is home to a colony of Adélie penguins numbering approximately 2,500. This camera is seasonal and operates primarily from October to February, the Adélie breeding season. The camera is solar-powered and may sometimes experience brief outages due to inclement weather. School classrooms and other educational demonstrations will often take control of the camera, moving it to gain better views of the colony.